On Sunday afternoon I loaded up the kid and headed for the nearest off-road play land. Not that I'm any good at off roading, but its appeal does seem to be rather univeral. The plan was to drive up the wash for about five miles and then unload, hike a few more miles and check out a waterfall which only runs (trickles, if I'm honest) in the winter. It's been a dry one in SoCal this year, but with snow in the highest reaches of our local mountains last week, I was hopeful.
Turns out, the Wrangler is refreshingly fun in its element.
About half way up the wash we stumbled into this Bronco. This guy's combination of genius level driving and heavy footedness youthful indiscretion and enthusiasm landed him up to his axles in rocks. Physics, it turns out, apply to Fords as well. One quick snatch in four low and the Bronco was free. He was thankful and we had fun.
And then this happened. Doesn't look like much, but it stopped the Jeep on our first three attempts. That, of course, was before we unleashed our inner Tim Cameron and decided more throttle was the solution. Now, in fairness, this photo doesn't fully illustrate the hill's looseness or its frame-twisting nature which would simultanteously lift opposite front and rear wheels causing the Jeep to spin its tires and lose grip. Next stop: locking differentials. Or, at the very least, a disconnected front stabilizer bar. Spending the five minutes to make that tweak would likely have kept the tires on the ground.
After the hike we saw this:
It wasn't much. But it was enough to produce this:
Josh Jacquot, Senior editor
csubowtie says:
03:13 PM, 02/21/12
Looks like you had fun, and found a couple of basic 4x4 basics: flex is good, but lockers are really good. Four wheeling by yourself makes small problems a big pain in the butt (see the Ford). And as a reminder to anyone who may find themselves in this type of recovery situation, throw a joacket or blanket over the recovery strap, just in case it breaks or comes loose. These things have been known to come through back windows.
rick8365 says:
03:46 PM, 02/21/12
Cool - I'm jealous.
In the picture with the Bronco, did the guy in the purple shirt just lay out the "youthful", "enthusiastic" driver? Or, is he about to backhand him as he starts to get up from the first beat down??
I once had a spot of "youthful indiscretion and enthusiasm" in my Bronco in which I nearly put it on its lid in a couple of feet of lake water.....been there done that. I was fortunate too to have access to ropes, chains, block and tackle and a couple extra sets of hands. It all ended well with minimal damage, some good pictures and a story to be told going forward.
cruiserhead1 says:
03:46 PM, 02/21/12
Nice!
I bet if you aired down, you would have made that hill. ARB lockers would be a great upgrade but I would look at upgrading cv joints so you don't grenade them.
Honestly, I bet it would be great with center diff lock and a ARB locker in the rear.
Looks like a lot of fun, look forward to seeing what you guys do to it next!
madurbs says:
05:20 PM, 02/21/12
Where is the OJ joke???
firstwagon says:
06:22 PM, 02/21/12
"Honestly, I bet it would be great with center diff lock and a ARB locker in the rear."
center diff lock ? It doesn't have a center diff to lock.
sharpend says:
06:52 PM, 02/21/12
JJ, you really need to get educated about recovery if you're venturing out into the wilds on your own - and especially if you bring your daughter along.
And get a rear locker already.
Sheesh, suspension upgrades, wheel upgrade and mud tires but you still have an open diff. What's the point? Poseur Alert!
compressor says:
08:38 PM, 02/21/12
Cool Josh. Really glad people take their kids on hikes.
Side note - I can't believe kids that size can't sit in the front seat. Is there an airbag disable?
firstwagon says:
09:05 PM, 02/21/12
"Sheesh, suspension upgrades, wheel upgrade and mud tires but you still have an open diff. What's the point? Poseur Alert!"
I agree lockers can be useful but good tires (and a good driver) will get you just about anywhere.
My Jeep has open diffs and does fine. My 91 Trooper had a LSD and was close to unstoppable.
cruiserhead1 says:
10:16 PM, 02/21/12
open diffs=awd = 1wd
+center diff lock (or part-time tcase) = 2wd
+center+rear diff lock = 3wd
+center+rear+front lock = 4wd
I assumed the Jeep had a cdl but I guess it has a pt transfer case that splits 50/50 when you put it into 4wd.
The harder the trails, lockers become a necessity. I like ARB's because of the instant on/off (especially good on the front, where you can steer and lock for traction quickly) and they are strong.
Gearing and lockers will get you anywhere. Add a winch and you are pretty much covered.
I don't think the Wrangler needs more articulation for the tire size selected. It has plenty.
The swb Jeep can maneuver where lwb rigs have no choice but to go over obstacles.
Rockrails, winch, lockers, gearing and beefing up some drivetrain bits is going to make it unstoppable.
goaterguy says:
05:44 AM, 02/22/12
Have you all noticed that the Wrangler has not been really stuck anywhere? The 2012 Wrangler sport has Brake lock Differentials (BLD) standard. It is NOT a locker but the system is very helpful.
Read a little:
http://blog.chryslerllc.com/blog.do?p=entry&id=270
"Jeep Brake Traction Control Explained
by Loren Trotter
February 11, 2008 7:00 AM
Loren Trotter is an engineer in Active Chassis Control Systems, as well as a die-hard Jeep® enthusiast and avid off-roader. Some of the shots below come courtesy of his trips to Moab, demonstrating the capable off-road system he's speaking about below.
Jeep® has long been the leader in four wheel drive systems and in 2005 introduced Electronic Limited Slip Differentials (ELSDs) and brake based traction control tuned specifically for off road driving on the Grand Cherokee. Since then, traction control has been added to the Commander, Liberty and Wrangler.
From reading several articles written about these vehicles, I feel that there may be some misconceptions about Jeep brake based traction control and even some misconceptions about ELSDs.
There are several parts to traction control and they are enabled or disabled depending on the driving mode the driver has chosen. When the vehicle is in 4wd high range and the Electronic Stability Control System (ESC) is on, traction control uses the brakes and engine torque control to limit how fast the driven wheels can spin relative to the actual speed of the vehicle.
This helps provide maximum traction along with stability. In addition to controlling how fast the driven wheels are spinning, there is a feature of brake traction control that controls wheel speed side to side across a driven axle and is called BLD, or "brake lock differential."
BLD does not care how fast the wheels are turning, just that they are turning at the same speed. It provides improved traction capability similar to a locking differential.
There are times when controlling how fast the wheels spin may not be desirable for driving conditions such as mud or deep snow. In this case, pushing the ESC button once (in 4wd high range) will disable the brake and engine portions of traction control that control how fast the wheels are allowed to spin but leaves BLD on. In 4wd low range, only BLD functions so there is no need to turn off traction control.
Just to get this out of the way; from the Jeep perspective, BLD is not a substitute for locking differentials. It is a means to greatly expand the off road capability of vehicles that were not purchased with or do not offer locking differentials.
A Jeep vehicle with BLD will negotiate almost any obstacle or driving situation that a similar vehicle with locking differential will. BLD does require a change in driving style and more torque to negotiate the obstacle.
We have worked very hard to make the BLD on Jeep vehicles work well off-road and reduce, and in most cases eliminate, the complaints about brake based traction control.
This time I will write about BLD but I can write a future blog about ELSDs if there is enough interest from all of your readers out there.
To understand what BLD does, it is necessary to understand how and open differential works. Open differentials have many attributes that make them the best choice for most vehicles. They are simple, proven and reliable requiring only an occasional fluid change to last for many years.
For rear wheel drive vehicles, they also provide a stability advantage over locking differentials (such as a Detroit Locker) that are always engaged.
The main drawback to an open differential is that torque is always split 50/50. Each wheel receives 50% of the input torque (ignoring losses). This means that if one wheel is in the air and it takes almost no torque, say 10 ft-lb., to turn the wheel, the other wheel will only receive 10 ft-lb. of torque. If 10 ft-lb. is not enough to move the vehicle in the desired direction, it will not move.
Using the vehicle’s wheel speed sensors, BLD knows when one wheel on a driven axle is turning and the other is not. BLD will apply brake pressure to the wheel that is turning.
The applied brake pressure increases the torque required to turn the wheel in the air and this allows more torque to go to the wheel on the ground. The one drawback is that the input torque must be twice as much as required to negotiate the obstacle because of the brake application. The required extra torque is not usually a problem especially in 4wd low range.
In order to get the most out of BLD, the driver must adapt their driving style to characteristics of BLD. For example, when in a situation where one or more wheels loose traction and the vehicle will not continue in the desired direction, the driver should carefully and smoothly apply the throttle to allow more torque to go the wheels with traction as the brake(s) are applied.
BLD looks at individual driven axles and tries to keep the wheels turning at the same speed. BLD does not try to limit how fast the wheels turn, just that they turn at the same speed.
Some may fear that using the brakes for traction control (BLD) can cause them to overheat. The electronic brake control system uses a model to estimate the brake temperatures not only from use during traction control but also braking. If the model temperature reaches a level that could possibly affect brake performance, the brake traction control is shut off automatically.
Since BLD is only trying to keep both wheels on a driven axle turning at the same speed and not control overall wheel speed, the actual energy input to the brakes is relatively low. In all of the testing done at Moab, I have never seen brake temperatures reach a point where the thermal model turned off traction control.
In my opinion, brake based traction control has received undeserved criticism in the press and from off-road enthusiasts. Brake based traction control on Jeep (and Dodge) vehicles performs well off-road and is a useful feature for customers. Magazines should not lump all brake based traction control together.
Jeep engineers, along with partners Continental Automotive, Bosch and TRW, have worked very hard to make Jeep brake based traction control a system that performs extremely well.
Many diehard Jeep enthusiasts agree that brake traction control can work well off-road once they have seen it and tried it. Many trips to Moab and a number of other off-road areas have proven how well it works. How many other stock vehicles can do the Zuki Shuffle without locking differentials or would even try to climb where eagles dare to tread?"
dinobot666 says:
06:58 AM, 02/22/12
Did you really hook up a tow rope to his front axle? Is that what I'm seeing here?
milt721 says:
08:05 AM, 02/22/12
goaterguy:
That's interesting stuff, but none of it applies to a Wrangler. Wranglers have an optional limited-slip rear diff and the Rubicons have electronic lockers.
x_defector says:
09:17 AM, 02/22/12
Off road recovery 101:
Never attach a strap to any place other than a tow hook or the frame itself (or a dedicated d-ring with frame mounting). Bumpers, axles, tie rods, drag links, track bars....all out. Don't even try it. Also if the strap ends have metal hooks, use a damper on the rope - a jacket, towel, whatever to absorb kinetic energy if it snaps.
When I recover people off road they are almost always unprepared and uneducated. As they throw me their strap and wrap it around their axle or whatever, I tell them that's a bad idea and waht they should do. If they ignore me, they risk a nasty break. You CAN fix stupid, you just have to cost stupid a very expensive recovery and repair.
milt721 says:
09:39 AM, 02/22/12
I retact my previous statement. The feature is listed under safety for some reason. I missed it the first time through.
goaterguy says:
09:40 AM, 02/22/12
@ milt721:
You are wrong, it does apply to the Wrangler. Both my 2010 and 2012 Wrangler have this feature. If you care to read the owners manual (page 422), it's clearly explained there just not as detailed as the link I posed previously. This feature is not optional.
(from the 2012 Wrangler owners manual)
"This system monitors the amount of wheel spin of each of
the driven wheels. If wheel spin is detected, brake
pressure is applied to the slipping wheel(s) to provide
enhanced acceleration and stability. A feature of the TCS
system functions similar to a limited slip differential
and controls the wheel spin across a driven axle. If one wheel
on a driven axle is spinning faster than the other, the
system will apply the brake of the spinning wheel. This
will allow more engine torque to be applied to the wheel
that is not spinning. This feature remains active even if
TCS and ESC are in either the “Partial Off” or “Full Off”
modes. Refer to “Electronic Stability Control (ESC)” in
this section for further information.
goaterguy says:
09:45 AM, 02/22/12
See BLD clearly at work on a Wrangler X (no front locker):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8MAzmLSVIc
cruiserhead1 says:
10:58 AM, 02/22/12
Are you trying to show how terrible the BLD is with that video?
A lot less skinny pedal and maybe the BLD would have activated much earlier instead of all that wheelspin.
On easier trails like that, open diffs barely work and honestly the momentum got him over because the BLD barely did anything until the top.
That video is the reason lockers are so much better than using traction control. Once 2 wheels lost grip, he lost 2wd- which is all he has with open diffs.
Brake assist is good in certain conditions but lockers are so much better in this situation.
It's good that it it has it. BLD working the front, locker in the rear sounds like a pretty good combo.
goaterguy says:
08:17 PM, 02/22/12
We all agree that lockers are better than BLD, it was established some posts ago if you cared to read. Not all Wranglers have lockers and not all Wrangler owners want or can install them, BLD is a good feature to have instead of a simple open differential.
The video just shows how it works, I am not here to criticize the driver in the video and I am glad someone posted it so we can learn something in the process, I myself have been stuck in mud and have been pulled out by fellow JK owners and had a lot of fun in the process. I don't know how great of an offroader are you, nor care.
Argh, I give up.
cello_one says:
09:27 AM, 02/23/12
OK, no one wants to point how HUMILIATED the "enthusisatic" Ford driver has to be, having gotten help from a Jeep WITH a kid in the car seat... Made me laugh out loud.
I don't off-road and I am smart enough to know the limits of my FWD cars when out in the woods hunting, crusing through snow drifts, etc. But it seems that the BLD conversation posted here is just wasting space...
cello_one says:
09:28 AM, 02/23/12
OK, no one wants to point how HUMILIATED the "enthusisatic" Ford driver has to be, having gotten help from a Jeep WITH a kid in the car seat... Made me laugh out loud.
I don't off-road and I am smart enough to know the limits of my FWD cars when out in the woods hunting, crusing through snow drifts, etc. But it seems that the BLD conversation posted here is just wasting space...
cello_one says:
09:29 AM, 02/23/12
By the way - great waterfall picture. We have a strange attraction to any size waterfall... trickles, torrents, whatever!
cruiserhead1 says:
12:24 PM, 02/23/12
hey goaterguy,
Sorry you felt I was attacking you. That wasn't the intention. I'm all for wheeling with all skill levels and depending on the vehicle and level of experience, even the mildest trails can be a lot of fun for anyone.
I'm proud of what I run but never agree with brand-warfare. Everyone out there is in it together as fellow offroaders.
There are some really good examples of traction control. Land Cruiser, Land Rover and Toyota all have great video examples of traction control on the rocks for stock suv's and trucks all over youtube.
ultimatemxcn says:
02:39 AM, 02/25/12
Great looking jeep!
Now I gotta ask, was your break operated limited slip diff not come on? Broken?
My Nissan Xterra 4x4 wouldn't have even sweated thanks to the the ABLS so unless its disabled, maybe its time to head to the dealer?